Liverpool sign veteran keeper Manninger

Manninger was with Arsenal from 1997-2002 and made 63 starts for the north London club

Liverpool have signed 39-year-old former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger on a short-term contract.

Manninger, who won the last of his 33 caps for Austria in 2009, was released by German side FC Augsburg last month.

He has been training with Liverpool and now becomes their third-choice keeper, behind Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet.

“I’ve still got something left, for sure,” said Manninger, who spent five years at Arsenal but has not played in the Premier League since May 2001.

Asked about his return to English football after such a long absence, he told the Liverpool website: “After these years, in Italy and the last four years in Germany, I hadn’t given up, I still waited for the phone call.

“Obviously it’s probably not the time for me to push for the next three or four years to get a place in the goal.

“Time says it’s not possible to play 50 games a year. But if I’m called up, I’m definitely there for games, I will play.”